The Zoo needs you to vote on names of two otter pups who've just begun to take their first steps.
The 4 week old river otter pups, a boy and a girl, now weigh about 2 pounds each and Oregon Zoo keepers are asking the community to vote on names that celebrate Oregon waterways.
Julie Christie, senior keeper for the zoo’s North America section, say the pups haven’t opened their eyes yet, but are growing fast and getting mobile, and it’s time to give them names before they really start roaming around.
Christie and other keepers have come up with a list of possible names for each pup and want you to weigh in.
For the female pup, here are the names and nicknames to consider:
Abiqua (Abby) which is a Pudding River tributary originating in the Cascades foothills near Lookout Mountain.
Calapooia (Cali) is a Willamette tributary that flows generally northwest from its source near Tidbits Mountain.
Nehalem (Nellie) as in the Nehalem River that flows nearly 120 miles from the coast Range down to Nehalem bay.
Here’s what’s been narrowed down for the male pup:
Nestucca (Tucker) as in the forested Nestucca River near the coast, known for its steelhead and salmon.
John Day (J.D.) which is a Columbia tributary that is undammed along its entire 284 miles. It’s the third longest free-flowing river in the contiguous U.S.
Wallooskee (Skeeter) is a 10-mile tributary of the Youngs River in northwest Oregon.
The pups’ mom, Tilly, was named after the Tillamook River. Tilly came to the Oregon Zoo in a transfer by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in 2009, which oversees the species’ protection. The pups’ dad, B.C., which is short for Buttercup, was originally taken in by Arkansas’s Little Rock Zoo and transferred to the Oregon Zoo in 2010.
To vote on the names, head to the Oregon Zoo’s website at oregonzoo.org. Votes will be accepted through Wednesday, April 5th, and then the zoo will announce the winning names on Thursday, April 6th.